


You've got a friend in me

by Capwidow94



Category: Avengers: Endgame - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23492695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capwidow94/pseuds/Capwidow94
Summary: A continuation of the scene between Steve and Natasha at the Avengers HQ in Endgame and if Scott had showed up a day later
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	You've got a friend in me

**Author's Note:**

> So since I have a lot of time on my hands, I thought why not upload a second one shot :)  
> I wrote the outline of this story like a couple of months ago, and since I only saw Endgame once (the full movie at least) I apologise if anything is not according to the movie.  
> Please not that English is not my first language and of course that Marvel characters don't belong to me.
> 
> I hope you like it and if you want you can leave kudos or a comment, I always enjoy reading those :) 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy!

You've got a friend in me

Steve sat opposite of Natasha, feeling a big lump in his throat as she told him that she needed to stay. He wanted to tell her that she didn't owe the world a thing, that she had done enough. He came here to cheer her up, to make her feel good, the only problem was that she shut him out and the worst thing was that he knew it was partially his fault. 

Before Thanos, it was only Sam, Nat, Wanda and himself. Sometimes Bucky was there whenever they were in Wakanda and Wanda came and went because she spend a lot of time with Vision, so mostly it was Sam, Nat and himself. In that time, Natasha allowed herself to be open to comfort, due to their crapy hotels they often had to sleep in one bed and Steve cherished those times because he had the chance to get to know her better and better. Both of them had found a comfort in one another at times of distress and often Steve had thought about maybe pursuing a relationship with her. Over the years he definitely started having feelings towards his partner, but with Ultron and then the accords, it all happened to fast and now... well now he didn't know where he stood with her.  
He left even though be promised he would never ever leave her, but he did. It had been around 5 months since he left, he couldn't take the dark silent corridors of the HQ anymore, and thanks to Tony he had found a apartment in Brooklyn and he founded a support group for the sake of others and probably himself. He moved on from the Avengers, the HQ, he left it all behind. It just happened one day and he knew he couldn't leave the HQ not before telling her. And it was the hardest thing he had ever done. 

Steve told her, on a late afternoon coming in after work that he would be leaving indefinitely. Seeing Natasha just nod and her eyes filling with tears had broke him but other than engulfing her in a hug, he didn't know what to do. "Come with me", he remembered saying, a not fully thought out sentence that he hoped would make her feel better, would make him feel better. But she shook her head and said that someone needed to stay put, to look after everyone. She couldn't give up on them. Before he moved out, a minute before he had crossed that bridge and left his home, she had asked him a question that he never thought he would hear. "What are we, Steve?" He didn't know what the right answer was, he wanted them to be more, but the words got stuck, instead he answered "Friends?" For a brief moment he saw Natasha's gaze drop and a almost rueful expression passed through her eyes. "What would we be if I said yes?" He bad barley heard her, since her voice came out as a whisper. He hadn't responded but knew that she was right.  
Natasha had given him a small smile and opened his hand to give him a big envelope. 

Inside he found a picture of them, all of them during their training days at the HQ. Tony was in his suit discussing something with Rhodey, Clint had brought his kids which were running around the campus. Wanda was talking to Vision siting on a small bench, and Sam was testing Red wing. Meanwhile he and Nat were standing on the balcony, he remembered her pulling out her phone, pushing him down and making him do a dorky smile into the camera. The picture was a bit blurry but he saw the small smile playing around her lips in the corner of the picture. "It's called taking a selfie, grandpa", she had lectured him. The other picture, a small and slightly crinkled black and white Polaroid, was from their days on the run. 

They had taken the picture in a small amusement park in Ireland which Sam had wanted to go to. Even though they had been quite busy, here and there all three of them got to enjoy then normality of life. Sam being the most experienced when it came to a normal life had always a trick up his sleeve when it came to long weekends with more or less nothing to do. Natasha, who lived most of her life in the shadows being tortured by the red room or constantly on missions had never got to experience anything like that, even less than Steve. So she had pushed him into a small photo booth while Sam was getting them something to drink and pressed their faces together to fit in the small picture. The result was a smiling Natasha with Steve smiling shy dimpled smile while taking in half of the space. He had always wondered why she had given this picture to him, since she had snatched it and immedatly put it into her wallet the moment it was printed. 

"I used to have nothing, and then I got this...this job, this family. And I was always better because of them". He saw the tears on her face, the shaky voice and felt like crying. Natasha had grown a lot more comfortable in showing her emotions to certain team members but never really told anyone of them much about her past. Steve only knew fragments, short moments in between the years of Natasha Romanoff's life. He was lucky to have met some of the people who were close to her like Yelena but Natasha never elaborated much of how she knew anyone in fact.  
"And even though they're gone... I'm still trying to be better." He wanted to say something comforting as he heard her voice break, her name on the tip of his tongue. Instead he decided to give her a small smile. "I think we both need to get a life". There, a small but uncertain smile formed on Natasha's face. "You first." She whispered, eyes shining through the curtain of tears.  
Wanting to cherish the lighter atmosphere around them, he returned it and slowly took the peanut butter sandwich she offered him. "Nat...I mean it. I'm not getting a life, not before you do the same". Lifting her leg of the table she reached for some papers and files and put them together in a small pile. Steve knew what she was doing, trying to busy herself and looking for any distraction.  
"It's getting late, don't you want to leave before it gets dark?" He shook his head, standing up and helping her with the files. "Nah, I'm gonna stay here for a while, we're taking a small break so you will have some company."  
"Lucky me", she retorted but didn't meet his eye. Steve got closer and grapped her hand lightly releasing that her wrist had significantly gotten thinner. From here, he could also see all the pain meds she had quickly hidden under a pile of paper. Percocet, Paxil, SSRI's even Prozac and Naproxen. She must have seen his gaze and sent him a glare meaning not to judge her. "Nat..."  
She shook her head and wriggled out of his grasp. "Since when are you so dependable of me, Steve? Go find a nice girl, live your life. Don't worry about me". Her tone was harsh, meant to leave no place for an argument but Steve quickly got over her harsh question even though it shocked that she would think that way. "Nat, I'm your friend. I... I want you in my life despite everything that's happened."  
Natasha didn't answer immedalty but stood up to put the remaining dishes in the sink. "Then why didn't you stay? If I mean that much to you, then why did you leave?" This time he saw the cracks in her armour, the slight tremble in her voice, her hands balled into fists. He knew she was still mad at him for leaving, he had left rather abruptly and didn't even give her a real explanation but he knew she could figure out why.  
"Natasha, you know why. What's done is done, what if there is no other way to bring them back?" 

A silence stretched between them and he found himself letting her go and settling on the couch leaving her some space. He tried, for the first couple of years he really did. Every opportunity, every little piece of information they had on the stones or Thanos led to weeks of research but with not many resources at all, it was hard to find anything that might bring them back. Thor tried to help as much as he could, so did Nebula but they couldn't find anything. Carol had searched endlessly for any clue, travelling around the universe, so did Nebula and Rocket but nothing. A couple of months after Tony's return, Morgan Maria Stark was born, and the inventor left the HQ for good, Bruce and Thor followed, Clint was no where to be found. Rhodey was the last one to leave, still every now and then dropping by.  
Natasha drew him out of his thoughts when she sat down across from him with a cup of tea in each hand. "Thanks", he said as she offered him one.  
"I always looked up to you, you know? Despite how hard the situations where you still managed to be a bit optimistic, never fully gave up and yes sometimes that annoyed the fuck out of me, but I guess I also appreciated it. Back when James was out there and you looked for him everywhere, I admired the strength you had to not give up. You didn't even know where he was, how much he would remember, you didn't know if he was alive, what changed Steve? Why are you giving up?" Her last sentence was slurred, he could barely make it out. "Nat, I saw it. With my own to eyes I saw Bucky dissolve into ash. I saw Vision lying there and half of our team was missing. I tried Nat, you know that. But I also saw people moving on, taking up jobs again, trying to at least bring some normality back into their lives, like Tony... I don't want to give up, I want to believe that they are still somewhere out there, that there is a way to bring them back, but 'Tasha, five years, it's been five years. I don't know how long I can still hold on to hope". He saw her nod, putting her feet on the table and sipping on her tea.  
"Why did you come here, Steve?" Once again, she tried to push him away, by now he was sure that he knew all her strategies of shutting him out. "I wanted to see you Nat. As much as I want to move on, I still have a friend here that needs my help, also I wanted to cook something for you", he ended on a lighter note. His partner gave out a snort. "Well I'm not letting you set this kitchen on fire, besides I have everything I need... you can go, Steve. I'll be okay. No need for babysitting." He saw right through her, the need for comfort was written all over her face, but just for a second before she stood up and walked away.  
Steve stood up and grapped her again, this time a bit harder in fear she would walk away once again. "Steve please go". She said not meeting his eyes. He shook his head, guiding her to the small space with no chairs in the way. He pulled out his phone, and a slow jazzy song filled the silent compound, the lights got a bit darker and the room suddenly seemed a lot cozier. "Dance with me". Giving her space to decide he let her go and waited. Natasha looked at his hand and then gave out a smile. "Is that what you came here to do?" He shrugged and offered her his hand. "Not originally but since I got denied to cook I thought why not give the lady a good time." She let out something approaching to a laugh. "Rogers, you can't dance either." She was right, even though Natasha had taught him how to dance a while ago, he was still hesitant and didn't necessarily kept it up. "Well, I hope I have improved a bit, come on Nat". He continued holding out his hand until her felt her hand enclosing around his and he drew her closer, hand around her waist. "What got you so confident?" The atmosphere was lighter, which Steve was glad for. Nat seemed a bit more comfortable and more like herself. It reminded him of all the days they spend together on the run, he had been thinking a lot about that time. Even though it was hard, and they often struggled with finding hotels, not being arrested and generally always having to move, it brought them closer together. The three of them became a well oiled machine, with Wanda jumping around with them and vision, but still they all relied on each other because it was the only way to get through it. Nat taught him how to dance probably on the run and she always told him not to step on her feet.

"Well, you always made me feel that way...I've been thinking about it a lot, about our time on the run." Natasha smiled against his chest and looked at him. He twirled her around and led her back to him. "I miss it Nat, I never thought I would but I do. It was..."  
Natasha interrupted him. "A simple life. Not being on missions constantly, not having to worry about meetings or paperwork." Steve chuckled and hugged her closer, head resting on hers. "You could have that you know? A simple life. No one would hold it against you." She whispered. A comfortable silence filled the room, the music slowly coming to an end. "No not without you". Natasha drew back, her face betraying her surprise. "Why, Steve?"  
"Nat, I was serious before. I don't wanna start a life, not without my partner by my side". She put a hand on his chest and loosend out of his embrace, maintaining a distance between them. Before she could fully step away, he grapped her hand. She finally looked at him, euee glistening with an emotion he didn't recognise. "Steve, I'm not that... I can't be that girl for you. I... I don't deserve you." Steve sighed, knowing that Nat still didn't think she was enough. "Let me be the judge of that, Nat." He moved in closer and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  
"Come on, partner let's get something to eat". 

A couple hours later, both of them sat in the lounge area and happy with the pizza Steve ordered. They had eaten in silence, every now and then cradling some wistful joke, keeping the mood light. It was around midnight when they both walked in tandem back to their apartments. Stopping before Natasha's, he wanted to go when she held him back. "You know you could just sleep in my guestroom, I didn't get around to doing your laundry so". Steve smiled and accepted, knowing he was a tad closer to maybe getting a yes to what he was about to ask. "You know, after all of this is over, when we get our friends back. Let's get that life together Nat, let's settle down together somewhere or just travel around and..." Natasha gave him a smirk and interrupted him. "Live in crappy hotels?" He laughed and got closer to her, ignoring the mess in her living room. "I was thinking a bit more updated versions." She gave him a hesitant smile almost as if she was shy. "Why me Steve?"  
"Is this 20 questions?" He replied cheekily and earned himself a jab between the rips. "Because I want you in my life, I can't imagine it any other way and I'm honestly continuing to fall in love with you day by day." There, he said it. He didn't necessarily wanted to drop it on her but he was afraid she might run away. Seeing her shocked face and a slight blush up her neck made him a bit more confident. "I felt this way for a while now", he admitted and grinned. Natasha smiled and grapped his hand. "Who do you want me to be?" She said, repeating the words she said all these years ago. "I want you to be whoever you wanna be, because I fell in love with every piece of you, Nat.... just think about it." He stopped and reached up to pull a strand of hair out of her face. "I know you're not gonna say no". Natasha's face lit up in mischief and she snorted. "Oh yeah, what makes you so sure?"  
"You do." He replied. For the first time in a while he saw her smile, one that actually reached her eyes. "You really want me to be by your side?" Steve got closer and grapped her hand to lay over his heart.  
"To infinty and beyond, Nat". That earned him a jab in the stomach but looking at her smiling up at him, it was worth it.


End file.
